Arizona Memories from the '70s

[@notconsenting6633]

I couldn't believe it when KDKB died. It was a sad day😢

[@21299]

Oh so sad. Truly. It never occured to me growing up that it would or even could go away. And then it was just gone. Glad I was there for the era, though.

[@ggrizz6066]

This was such a fun look back, thank you! I lived in Phoenix in the 70's. My dad had the "Pool & Brew" pool hall on 32nd St. and on Thomas. We would close the bar and everyone would spend the day floating down the river, it was epic! It was our annual river day and all the patrons would go, 50 of us scrambling to find a tube for the day. We moved to Carefree in the late 70's and my father owned the "Dancing Bull" restaurant in the Spanish Village. The 100 yr. floods would wash out Scottsdale Rd and nobody could reach us, not even venders to deliver our goods. We ended up selling the restaurant just because of that reason....too many 100 yr. floods! LOL

[@ArizonaPBS]

Wow! Thanks for sharing your memories!

[@chrisredfield4017]

Spanish Village !! WOW, I used to go to a shop there to buy Navajo jewelry for my Mom when I was feeling I could afford it. There was actually desert between Carefree and Cave Creek.

[@ggrizz6066]

@@chrisredfield4017 Yes, the jewelry store was owned by Jean Burk. I too have several pieces of jewelry from that store. I think Dessert Treasures is the only shop left from that time period? I'm sure it's still there?

[@LLYMYNT]

I was a child in Phoenix’70s

[@marlinmessenger3654]

I remember Dave Pratt at KUPD. He was hilarious. The Red Rocker!

[@eltigremadre]

Remember Dave Pratt the morning mayor of Phoenix

[@MagnumMike44]

I remember listening to Dave Pratt in the mornings when I worked the stocking crew at a grocery store up until 1984 that was part of a chain that's no longer around. He used to be the host of the morning show. He was very funny.

[@dianebolles8534]

I'm Don's youngest. I'm sure every 70s and 80s kid remembers tubing! I know I do!! We didn't have smartphones then. 🤣🤣

[@jonnid3122]

@@dianebolles8534 ❤️😥

[@tammylewis2408]

As a kid in the 70s, I watched the sitcom Alice, which was set in Phoenix, and thought it was a great place to live back then; no mention of the sitcom is a crime because it depicted people like Alice who moved out west to start a new life; in her case, she lost her husband in a trucking accident, and she decided to follow her dreams of a singing career that was put on hold when she married her late husband and had her son. She and her teenaged son end up in Phoenix with a broke down car on their way to CA, and she worked at a diner for a stingy boss named Mel. I always loved that sitcom.

[@IAmMrQ]

Raised here since '81. Love Arizona. Always will.

[@kerryrobinson9947]

The veteran's coliseum was the concert venue. Led Zeppelin played there - riots outside. Lots of "blue" smoke.

[@EdHutchinson-hj1pd]

Really brought back a lot of fond memories…thank you!

[@reneeyounk9663]

I loved there from 1985 thru 1991. Long Wings in Tempe, Los Arcos Mall, Thomas Mall, Tower Plaza with Alcolpoco Bay Beach Club, Warsaw Willy's blues, The Bagel on Scottsdale Blvd. The pink Biltmore Desert hotel was just being built and I was at a gathering at a huge sprawling windows and slate estate farther down the road. When Brookshires restaurant was open and we'd go have breakfast after the bar and I saw a bunch of people different from me but... We all needed breakfast. Drive past 58th Ave and it was all orange groves!

[@ArizonaPBS]

Thanks for sharing your memories!

[@missdeal07]

14:40 I know that guy on the bass! Last time I saw him was around '73 - our daughter was 3 years old. Roger Ames - a brilliant musician.

[@chrisredfield4017]

WOW ! I love the blast from the past ! I grew up in Maryvale in a brand new John F. Long home. My veteran Dad moved our family (I was 4 my sister 6) in 1962 from Allentown. My Mom was a professional musician who played and sang in nightclubs like The Desert Sun on Grand Ave. The USAC drivers of the day stayed at that hotel when the Bobby Ball 150 came to PIR. Mom was the organist and soloist for the Phx Giants at Phx Municipal Stadium while also being the organist for the Phx Roadrunners for 2 decades. I graduated from Maryvale HS in '76. My gift was to go back to Allentown/Philly/Valley Forge for the full experience of the Bicentenial. I'm really glad I wasn't home since it looks like it isn't even remembered or acknowledged by Phx residents or officials. I guess i was lucky. Soooo many memories well covered by "Gerald". I remember when anchor Ray Thompson retirement sign off from channel 12 and watching "High Flight" which was channel 10 KOOL's midnight sign off.

[@brieziethirteen13]

@@chrisredfield4017 hey, AJ stayed at Kon Tiki during that and my dad raced formula at that time..I remember it well. Kudos to your mom! My bass playing days began in Phx.

[@ArizonaPBS]

Thanks for sharing your memories!

[@sondrasmith-rr4mw]

Loved the Phoenix road runners. I always called them blood-and-guts. We went to many games every year. My mother introduced me in 1963 to hockey and if somebody ask me if I like sports, I say there are no sports except live. Ice hockey and now we fast forward fifty years later and I am still going to ice hockey games in the town that I live in

[@ArizonaPBS]

Thanks for sharing! We love a good origin story.

[@chrisredfield4017]

My Mom was the organist and sang the National Anthem at the games for many years. Sandy Hucul's wife sold Mom and Dads house after they passed.

[@MagnumMike44]

I'm a native Arizonan, born and raised in Phoenix, and before they had flood control, I remember one year in particular when we had a flood and that was in June of 1972, I was 15 years old back then and I remember my friend and I riding our bicycles on flooded streets, we accelerated as fast as we could on the dry sections of streets, and it was thrilling to both of us to make water splash as we rode our bikes through flooded sections of neighborhoods.

[@ArizonaPBS]

Thank you for sharing your memories!

[@EdHutchinson-hj1pd]

We moved to Phoenix so I’ve lived here 66 years, I remember all of what you showed… great memories, thank you

[@chrisredfield4017]

I still have pictures and memories of my Dad driving us West to the Agua Fria at full flood stage. The road was gone and we watched a house floating down the river. As a teen, the river bed (always dry) was where we partied after Friday night HS football games.

[@MagnumMike44]

@@chrisredfield4017 - Yeah I remember those parties at the Agua Fria dry river bed & Indian School Rd, or Camelback Rd, I've never been there when it was flooded, but wow! It must have been something to watch a house floating down the river.

[@therealrobertmcdonald]

Sad Big Surf is gone and the land being turned into apartments.

[@smplfi9859]

I remember spending my childhood summers there. The best waves in the valley! When you went up on the slides you could see the old drive in as well. Which is also sad to see go. Im not sure there is a drive in, in the valley still

[@ArizonaPBS]

@@smplfi9859 Thank you both for sharing your memories! Always tough to see long-time favorites go.

[@brieziethirteen13]

​​@@ArizonaPBS thats sad to hear..I spent plenty of time there..there and legend city

[@chrisredfield4017]

@@smplfi9859 Man ! The Thunderbird, the Northern, the Indian, the Bethany. I remember my sister and me being in "footy" jammies and eating homemade popcorn at those Drive-ins in the 60's.

[@chrisredfield4017]

@@brieziethirteen13 LEGEND CITY !!! OMG

[@JH_75]

What a great series. This predates me as Im only 47 and lived in AZ from 1984-1999, but I love the state and it really feels like home to me when I go there now, even though I have no family left in AZ. Might move back someday.

[@ArizonaPBS]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@robinjonson4186]

I miss Legend City & Big Surf !!😂

[@MagnumMike44]

I remember when Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke were in downtown Phoenix in April of 1977 filming the final scenes of The Gauntlet, the bus they were driving was being riddled with bullet holes shot by hundreds of police officers, and I went downtown and watched as the bus turned on Monroe Street.

[@ggrizz6066]

I was at the filming of " A Star is Born" in 1997 at the concert with Barbera Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. Still have the ticket stub and release letter that they handed out just in case your face ended up in the movie. Fun times!

[@ggrizz6066]

1977 sorry, not 1997

[@MagnumMike44]

@@ggrizz6066 No need to apologize, you made the correction to the year.

[@kcinaz7719]

The Don Bolles murder still plagues us today! I have had no one who was involved then give me a reason why they never dug more on the Funk family (Emprise) that ran the Greyhound tracks! Yet 4 years earlier the 92nd Congressional Commission on Crime knew much more. Including the wiretapping of Bolles phones at home and office. Too many who know the truth have died, but there’s still a small handful that know imho. I wish a solid reporter would do more digging on this aspect.

[@SlammRecords]

Born in Maryvale in ‘72, raised in Glendale. I left the Valley in 2004. Apparently Maryvale Hospital closed its doors years ago; is that correct?

[@johnanderson2432]

Moved here in July of 1978 from Chicago. The next month the tison gang broke jail. I thought I was in the real wild wild west!

[@ArizonaPBS]

You picked a dramatic time to arrive, for sure!

[@reneeyounk9663]

And the tree awned streets with sunken lawns to the west of 32nd st and Thomas. Sure miss all that's gone

[@KG-xf9ew]

Dang man. Such great memories.

[@brakeme1]

I never knew who “compton terrace” was named after. Im watching this the day before he died. I was a kid in tucson in the 70s.

[@jazsurfer]

Thank you for putting this together! I moved away from Az in '79 and plan to return this year. Like many, my family & I tubed the Salt, raced dune buggies and dirt trikes and got into Hang Gliding. The cool Jazz scene was happening and life was lively (despite the heat of July & August). New entrepreneurs, with new ideas literally breathed life into an already beautiful place filled with possibilities. Again - Thank You!

[@ArizonaPBS]

Thanks for sharing your memories!

[@brieziethirteen13]

Goldwater was our neighbor in 70s.

[@josephbingham1255]

Very interesting history. Alice Cooper was an Arizonian since 1958 - Wow. 31:28 Women in the men's shower room? L.A.P.D. 10k race in the 70s started and ended at the Police Academy at Elysian Park. At the end of the race a healthy looking runner woman came in the policemen's locker room. Stripped down in front of male runners and LAPD and jumped into the shower with us! She said the women police officers showers were not working and SHE was entitled to take a shower just like the men - and was going to have one! True story. 35:22 This group of Embassy Marines received special plaques with embossed Marine & Dept. of Sate seals for taking part in the evacuation. I have one in my collection.

[@studiokohl1]

I remember Mary Jo West was huge when I was in grade school. I lived 3 streets south of Bill Close and would see him walking his dogs when it wasn't to hot out. Our whole neighborhood was a buzz when he was held hostage live on TV. It was horrible. We had a business in west Yellowstone MT (west entrance to Yellowstone park) in the summertime. The first year we went was 1976 and I remember my brother and I missed the bicentennial train. But Montana was more fun for us. We worked our butts off, making money. My brother bought his first computer. TSR 80 from radio shack at Thomas mall. Loved that mall.

[@ArizonaPBS]

Thanks for sharing your memories!

[@chrisredfield4017]

Do you remember the ice rink at Thomas Mall ? The Roadrunners used it for practice since the Sun's shared the Colosium.

[@michaelt.9372]

You guys should do a special on winslow.

[@Scotpatriot]

Remember riopell at celebrity new years many times

[@bullgod1111]

Wow I was on stage with Jerry Riopel and Chuck Berry, I knew who Chuck Berry was but not Jerry until this Video.

[@ArizonaPBS]

Very cool - thanks for sharing!

[@stevefoster4326]

Thank you... interesting things I've heard of having moved there in '87.

[@ArizonaPBS]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@bethmendoza1847]

At 39:49 That’s the Indian bend wash in Scottsdale at Osborn rd looking East

[@sambrownsings]

Yea, halter tops are what America is all about 🙄

[@elizabethcompton738]

My late brother Lonnie was the mortician who picked up Bob Crane's body from the murder scene.

[@aquicktake]

Louis Taylor, the man convicted of the fire at the Pioneer, was released from prison in 2013.

[@bryanforis1839]

When you saw the big truck and all the works in front of your and when you want to Tempe and mesa you all mud the water was going great speed I want kdkb they the first to talking heads and Devo and undertones and heavy metal I see many years and to see the dj when they change format and get albums go get album’s

[@dianehickman5960]

Is that Pat McMan doing the voiceover

[@ArizonaPBS]

It was! Good ear.

[@ronaldandlinda]

I wonder if the people who made this realize that there is much more to Arizona besides the Phoenix area?

[@ArizonaPBS]

That's a fair point -- there are a lot of '70s stories from the rest of Arizona! Maybe we should make a sequel...

[@desertpotter1003]

That’s exactly what I was thinking.

[@IEchuckie]

Phoenix is LA east. Just listen to the news.

[@bretthatch2823]

I was 9 years old when we went to the Freedom Train.

[@elizabethcompton738]

The Freedom Train came to Phoenix during the Bicentennial.

[@bethmendoza1847]

The bi-centennial, we got stoned and missed it!

[@FOUREIGHTYBABY]

Hahahahahhahahah hell yeah

[@UnavoidableFate]

"there was a lot of beer at the bottom of that river" that's disgusting.

[@LoFoSho]

The river is probably made of beer at this point

[@21299]

Yeah, and then in 1975 apparently someone thought it would be better if the FOX Theater on 1st and Washington would better serve the city as a freakin parking lot! An irreplaceable treasure lost for no other reason than it was out of fashion and the future awaited. Waste.

[@craiggossmer6525]

😎👍👍

[@desertpotter1003]

This should had been titled Phoenix memories from the 70s, not much else was talked about.

[@ArizonaPBS]

That's a fair criticism. If we produced a follow-up, what topics would you want to see included?

[@desertpotter1003]

Just include more places in Arizona, like what it was like to live in the smaller communities , like Bisbee, Williams, Sedona, Show Low. It seemed to spend most of the time talking about Phoenix. I just think it was titled wrong.

[@MarkEvans-wx3sg]

Acts 2:38

[@AMPProf]

Yep disco queen old

[@SmithJoseph-c5q]

Did Elvis presley play in Arizona in the 70s

[@nelliefahey2590]

Yes!!

[@faithkearns2716]

Sorry. Don’t Rember it I am a native of. Phoenix. How. Sad

[@user-fq2oj2sv5t]

It was nice to look into our Arizona past but WAY to much democratic government propaganda. Do better PBS or prepare to be defunded.

[@phoenixrailfan7956]

PropagandaBroadcastingService can’t do better. This is the only way they know how to do things 😂

[@chrisredfield4017]

I don't disagree. I'm a Goldwater Republican raised by conservative parents in Phx. Barry is turning over in his grave seeing that even Kennedy Democrats don't exist there anymore. Great history in the series done well. It is sad to see that PBS has corrupted their journalistic neutrality though.

[@faithkearns2716]

Don’t Rember it

[@atatterson6992]

Remember what? None of it?

[@TeezyT_Sunrise]

KZbin Teezy T Phoenix. Songs the truth